


Inkbound

by katsukii



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:53:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21585670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katsukii/pseuds/katsukii
Summary: From birth, there are two names tattooed on a person's wrist. One is the name of their soulmate, the other, the name of their mortal enemy. For Light Yagami, it's the same person. A Lawlight oneshot (where L dies post timeskip).
Relationships: L/Yagami Light
Comments: 3
Kudos: 151





	Inkbound

He has never understood his tattoos.

Light Yagami has been cursed with the most difficult markings to decipher. Where his classmates have full names, he has one letter and a first name. L and Ryuzaki. L? Nobody's name is a single letter. Sometimes, he thinks it's more of a cruel joke than anything else. Not that Light cares much for soulmates, since he doesn't need one anyway. Love would only get in the way of his studies, and he doesn't need anything to interrupt him.

He is thirteen, on his first date, when he shows his tattoos to Mayumi, who has a crush on him. She reads the names in silence, then laughs aloud. _Ryuzaki is a boy's name!_ she taunts. Light flushes red and leaves the cafe, tugging his sleeves down over his wrists in shame.

He is sixteen when he learns that one of the markings is supposed to be his mortal enemy. He doesn't know what he's hoping for, but he does hope that his enemy keeps things interesting.

He is seventeen when he finds the Death Note. Life holds meaning again, and he is fashioned a new name - Kira. He is destined to become a god, and he hopes to meet his enemy soon, and defeat them. No one can stand in his way, and he has never felt so alive.

He is eighteen when he learns who L is. A detective, hunting down Kira. He looks at the TV, awestruck, then at his wrist - he has found his enemy. He does not care to find Ryuzaki; all he needs is L, and he vows that, in the name of justice, he will kill him.

He is graduating to college when he meets Ryuzaki. They each give a speech at the podium in front of a thousand students and parents, and Light is trying not to break his mien of placidity. Ryuzaki is a strange man, wan, gaunt, and dressed absolutely abhorrent compared to Light's own garb. He saunters in a strange gait, walks hunched over with his arms dangling at his sides like limp tree branches. And his eyes - they are sunken, dark, but piercing nonetheless, as if sizing Light up every second. He feels unsettled, and hopes that his tattoos are wrong.

He is sitting in his seat, hyperaware of Ryuzaki's presence, when the whisper comes. _I am L._ And Light's confidence shatters, though he does not show it. This man, this Ryuzaki, cannot be L - the other tattoo on his wrist. It's not possible. It's a jest. Light cannot have the same soulmate and mortal enemy. It's all a joke. It's sick, and Light cringes, shuffling uncomfortably in his seat.

He is twenty three when he sees Ryuzaki's tattoos for the first time. They are handcuffed together, in the middle of a fistfight, and when Ryuzaki's sleeves roll up after he throws a punch, he gleans the words inked on his skin. Kira. Light Yagami. He nearly gets sick, and with all the anger he can muster, he punches Ryuzaki straight in the face.

He is almost twenty four when he holds Ryuzaki's hand for the first time, and it makes his stomach churn. He has no need for love, especially when his soulmate is also his mortal enemy. But he cannot help himself from closing his palm around Ryuzaki's cold hand, and his heart thuds when he feels Ryuzaki rotate his hand and interlace their fingers. They sit in silence, neither moving, hearts beating in time to a discordant rhythm.

He turns twenty four the day he kisses Ryuzaki. It's slow, unsure, and he isn't quite certain he likes the feeling. He has never kissed anyone before, not for real, and judging by Ryuzaki's apprehension, neither has he. But they find a mutual comfort in one another, even if it's meant to be short-lived. Light is Kira, and Kira must win. Damned be love.

He feels a mix of emotions when he watches Ryuzaki crash to the floor, heart spasming in his chest. Kira has triumphed, but Light Yagami has lost. As far as he is concerned, Light dies along with Ryuzaki that day, and it is not long before a new L takes his place, hunting Kira. It's a sick recreation of the man he once loved and hated, and Light has never yearned for killing someone so fiercely before. This new L doesn't deserve to be anything like the Ryuzaki he once knew.

He will find him. For love, for hatred, for justice, for Ryuzaki. And he will kill him.


End file.
